Alexander cuts the Gordian Knot, by Jean-Simon Berthélemy (1743–1811)

The Gordian Knot is a legend associated with Alexander the Great. A legend ( Latin, legenda, "things to be read" is a Narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' It is often used as a metaphor for an intractable problem, solved by a bold stroke ("cutting the Gordian knot"). Metaphor (from the Greek: μεταφορά - metaphora, meaning "transfer" is language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects

Legend

At one time the Phrygians were without a legitimate king. In antiquity Phrygia (Φρυγία was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. An oracle at Telmissus (the ancient capital of Phrygia) decreed that the next man to enter the city driving an ox-cart should become their king. An oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion an Infallible authority usually spiritual in nature In antiquity Phrygia (Φρυγία was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. Oxen (singular ox) are Cattle trained as draft animals. Often they are adult castrated males "CARTS" redirects here For the transportation system see Capital Area Rural Transportation System, or Chautauqua CARTS. This man was a poor peasant, Ahmidas son of Gordias, who drove his parents into town on his father's ox-cart. Gordias (or Gordius) was a royal name in the mythic prehistory of Phrygia. He was declared king by the priests. This had been predicted in a second way by a sign of the gods: before Ahmidas' birth, an eagle had once landed on that ox-cart. Eagles are large birds of prey which are members of the Bird order Falconiformes and family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera In gratitude, he dedicated the ox-cart^[1] to the Phrygian god Sabazios (whom the Greeks identified with Zeus) and either tied it to a post or tied its shaft with an intricate knot of cornel (Cornus mas) bark. Sabazios is the nomadic horseman and sky father god of the Phrygians and Thracians. The Greeks ( Greek: Έλληνες) are a Nation and Ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions Zeus (zjuːs in Greek: nominative: Zeús /zdeús/ genitive: Diós; Modern Greek /'zefs/ in Greek mythology KNOT (1450 AM) is a commercial Classic Country music Radio station in Prescott Arizona, broadcasting to the Flagstaff - Prescott The European Cornel ( Cornus mas) is a species of Dogwood native to southern Europe and southwest Asia. An oracle further prophesied that the one to untie the knot would become the king of Asia (today's Asia Minor). Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black

The ox-cart, often depicted as a chariot, was an emblem of power and constant military readiness. The chariot is the earliest and simplest type of Carriage, used in both peace and war as the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples It still stood in the palace of the former kings of Phrygia at Gordium in the fourth century BC when Alexander arrived, at which point Phrygia had been reduced to a satrapy, or province, of the Persian Empire. A palace is a grand residence especially the home of a Head of state or some other high-ranking Public figure. In antiquity Phrygia (Φρυγία was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. Gordium (Greek Gordion, Turkish Gordiyon) was the capital of ancient Phrygia. See also the related deity Satrapes. Satrap (Persian ساتراپ was the name given to the governors of the Provinces of ancient The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia

In 333 BC, wintering at Gordion, Alexander attempted to untie the knot. When he could find no end to the knot, to unbind it, he sliced it in half with a stroke of his sword, producing the required ends (the so-called "Alexandrian solution", taken by the Hellenic Army IV Army Corps as their motto). Plutarch disputes this, relating that according to Aristobulus, Alexander pulled the knot out of its pole pin rather than cutting it. Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus ( Greek: Μέστριος Πλούταρχος c Aristobulus of Cassandreia (ca 375 - 301 BC Greek Historian, son of Aristobulus probably a Phocian settled inCassandreia accompanied Either way, Alexander did go on to conquer Asia, fulfilling the prophecy.

The knot may in fact have been a religious knot-cipher guarded by Gordion's priests and priestesses. Robert Graves suggested that it may have symbolized the ineffable name of Dionysus that, enknotted like a cipher, would have been passed on through generations of priests and revealed only to the kings of Phrygia. Robert Graves (24 July 1895 &ndash 7 December 1985 was an English Poet, Translator and Novelist. In Classical mythology, Dionysus or Dionysos (in Greek, Διόνυσος or Διώνυσος; associated with Roman

Unlike fable, true myth has few completely arbitrary elements. A fable is a succinct story in prose or verse that features Animals Plants inanimate objects, or forces of nature which are The word mythology (from the Greek grc μυθολογία mythología, meaning "a story-telling a legendary lore" This myth taken as a whole seems designed to confer legitimacy to a dynastic change in this central Anatolian kingdom: thus Alexander's "brutal cutting of the knot. A dynasty is a succession of rulers who belong to the same family for generations Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black . . ended an ancient dispensation. "^[2] The ox-cart seems to suggest a longer voyage, rather than a local journey, perhaps linking Gordias/Midas with an attested origin-myth in Macedon, of which Alexander is most likely to have been aware. ^[3] To judge from the myth, apparently the new dynasty was not immemorially ancient, but had widely remembered origins in a local, but non-priestly "outsider" class, represented by the peasant Gordias in his ox-cart. Other Greek myths legitimize dynasties by right of conquest (compare Cadmus), but the legitimizing oracle in this myth suggests that the previous dynasty had been a race of priest-kings allied to the oracle deity. Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and Heroes the nature of the world and the origins and significance Cadmus, or Kadmos (Κάδμος in Greek mythology, was a Phoenician prince son of Agenor and the brother of Phoenix, Cilix

Notes

See also

• Egg of Columbus
• Endless knot

References

• Robert Graves, The Greek Myths, 1993. The egg of Columbus or Columbus's egg usually means a genial idea or discovery that seems simple or easy after the fact The endless knot or eternal knot ( Sanskrit: Shrivatsa; Tibetan "Dpal be'u" is a symbolic knot found in Tibet Robert Graves (24 July 1895 &ndash 7 December 1985 was an English Poet, Translator and Novelist. The Greek Myths (1955 is a Mythography, a Compendium of Greek mythology, by the Poet and Writer Robert Graves ISBN 0-14-017199-1
• Robin Lane Fox, Alexander the Great, 1973, pp 149–151. Robin Lane Fox (born 1946 is an English Historian, currently a Fellow of New College Oxford and University of Oxford Reader in Ancient History ISBN 0-14-008878-4
• Plutarch, Lives

External links

• Alexander the great and the Gordian knot
• Mathematical Analysis of the Gordian Knot